How are Air-pockets that cause aircrafts to lose altitude suddenly caused?
In actuality there are updrafts and there are downdrafts where the air is moving vertically in one direction or the other. What feels like stepping off a cliff is simply the plane flying into one of these fast moving vertical columns of air. The airplane is actually still flying along like normal but it has for the moment flown into this colossal elevator shaft of air so while it is flying along horizontally it will continue to ride the elevator vertically up or down (this can happen when you fly into an updraft too) until the plane goes out the other side of the air column. If you are sitting in your seat and buckled up like the sign says you will simply feel either very heavy or very light. You might spill your drink if you have one so when the “Fasten Seatbelt” light comes on do that first then polish off your drink second!
